Hundreds File Petitions For Nominations To Office

Several hundred nominating petitions for local, county and state elective offices were filed yesterday in Lehigh County Courthouse.

The deadline for filing petitions is 4 p.m. today.

Fay Ginther, chief clerk of the office of voter registration, said: "Very few petitions were received before today. We were very busy all day in examining and receiving the petitions. We expect it to be as bad or worse (today)."

Ginther asks all candidates to submit the petitions as early as possible today to avoid a last minute jam.

There are an estimated 700 elective offices up for grabs in this year's balloting.

More than half that number involve elections officials, such as judges of elections and minority and majority party inspectors.

Ginther said candidates will draw lots for ballot position on March 20 at 10 a.m. in Room 711 of the courthouse.

If a candidate sends his or her surrogate to draw for ballot position, that person must have a notarized letter of authorizationsigned by the candidate, Ginther said.